3. In-depth description of the culinary program. List of courses, types of classes, program length, class schedule, description of the kitchen and dining room (including square footage, equipment, textbooks used, teaching style, etc.)




From the Culinary Academy of India

This is just raw information. I will go back and edit later. // Source: http://www.iactchefacademy.com/

Program offered: BACHELOR OF CATERING TECHNOLOGY AND CULINARY ARTS

Program basics: The core of curriculum in Bachelor of Catering Technology & Culinary Arts (BCT & CA) offers the most intensive and complete training in classic techniques of professional cooking. Our Curriculum is the hands on instruction of basic cooking, baking and presentation skills and the theoretical knowledge that must underline competency. The objective is to teach the students what works in both the front and the back of the house along with the reasons it works. The course structure is divided into one year and four Semesters.

SYLLABUS/ CURRICULUM

Gastronomy - This program opens the door to the basics of Cuisine. From day one students begin to master the basic skills from how to hold a knife properly, how to peel vegetables or how to truss a chicken. As the term progresses, the working techniques become more complex. Demonstrations become more menu-oriented, incorporating such elements as Organization, preparation, balance and timing.
Patisserie & Confectionery Arts - This program is divided into basic, intermediate and superior Patisserie. A vigorous and exciting subject allowing students to develop the basic techniques of Classic Patisserie while being introduced to aspects of the commercial kitchen. The student progressively learns to prepare a wide selection of desserts & cakes served in restaurants & Patisserie shops. The superior Patisserie combines all the knowledge, techniques and artistic skills of the Basic & Intermediate levels and encourages you to personalize your work. It consists of Plated Desserts, Chocolate, Decorative Sugar work and Pastillage.
Bread Art - To develop a professional approach to making International Breads, focusing on ingredients selection, leavening agents, proving time, baking temperatures and glazing of the end products. Rectification of faults in dough and batters before baking and identification of errors in final products. Develop knowledge and interest in Buffet Presentation & Bread Show -Pieces.
Advanced Garde-Manger Arts / Culinary Arts - To emphasize the importance of appearance, garnishing, presentation and eye appeal in order to increase the acceptability and make food look good. The students are also acquainted with the latest trends in the Cold Kitchen strongly emphasizing on creativity, arts and skills. Students endeavour to learn carving both edible and inedible show pieces generally used in food service establishments. Students master the art of Fruit and Vegetable Carvings, Ice carving, Butter & Tallow Sculpture and Styrofoam. Modern ways of decorating foods such as ‘Chaud-Froid’ paintings, jelly Logos and Mash Potato Sculpture are also taught. An unusual component of this course is the theory and practice of Charcuterie and the art of Sausage making, smoking and Curing. Meat Fabrication and Charcuterie - Students learn meat grading procedures and techniques, ways to identify meat quality and yield testing through classroom lectures and demonstrations. Fabrication of whole meats into primal cuts and portion cuts are taught keeping in mind the classical French and American meat cuts and also the local hotel and restaurant cuts. Pate’s and Galantines, Sausage making and meat preservation are also given due importance. Marinating and dressing of meats is also the part of the subject.
Oriental & Far Eastern Cooking - Whether you call it Szechuan or Cantonese, Peking or Hunan, the Thai Curry or the Singapore Noodles, Nasi-Goreng from Indonesia or Japanese Sushi, students are exposed to the fine delicacies of all these regions to ensure that they are not lost in the international market. Special emphasis is put on the a la carte type of food preparation so as the student will learn how to pick up orders and also get an insight into order pick up sequence and speed of processing the orders.
Indian Regional Cuisine - Throughout the programme Indian Cuisine is fully emphasised. Students are introduced to the basics of bulk Indian Cooking. Focus is on the mixing and combining the ingredients in right proportions in large quantities and rectification of errors to avoid wastage. The Course explores the use of indigenous ingredients in the preparation of traditional and contemporary Indian Regional Food built upon established culinary principles. Theme buffets & presentations is a mandatory part of the curriculum. All the states of India are given due importance with aspects such as history, culture, eating habits etc.
Indian Confectionery - Students develop practical knowledge about the fundamentals of Indian sweets and individually learn to prepare basic Indian desserts. Due emphasis is given to milk and “chenna” based desserts and variety of delicious halwas. Students also develop confidence in handling the preparation of various Indian snacks and savories commonly prepared in the hotel industry.
International Cuisine - Through lectures, demonstrations and hands on cooking techniques of food preparations are taught to the students. Emphasis is laid on ingredients and spices, mixing of ingredients, taste development and product analysis in relation to a wide variety of international cuisines. Students research and prepare representative regional foods from the Asian, European and American continents. Special interest is taken on French and Oriental seasonings, ingredients and cooking techniques. This subject mainly deals with hot food preparation.
Food and Beverage Matching - To learn about the Food and Beverage Service Department, skills and profiles of F&B Service staff. To develop knowledge about menu awareness, method of table lying, operating equipment and procedure of service. Students are introduced to various alcoholic beverages, their history, manufacture, classification, storage, mixing and service. The goal of this subject is to teach the student chefs the role of wine, spirits and beverages in professional food service. Students learn the principles of F&B management, purchase, storing, issuing, pricing and merchandising.
Drawings and Graphics - To introduce the students to basics of art in relation to drawing, sketching & pictorial representation so as to enable them to develop their artistic and visualizing skills in relation to food presentation. Develop skills in 3-Dimensional work such as sculpting and moulding, using food commodities like ice, tallow, chocolate, marzipan, etc.
Management - To know the basic management principles and it’s applicability in catering and hospitality business. Improving supervisory skills, understanding the challenges of supervising work and teams in food production and service settings. To learn the theory of materials management focusing on procurement, storing and ordering. To give an insight into concepts of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management and their application to catering businesses and hospitality establishments. Focus is given on teamwork and communication skills.
French - To enable the students to frame, speak and write simple sentences, phrases and understand general terms pertaining to hotel and catering activities. Culinary French is also emphasized as it helps in menu development.
Other - Finally, A Chef’s job involves not only cooking but also budgeting, planning, cost control, purchasing, selling & public relations do come uninvited. The Academy grooms every single individual to face the loads of responsibility shouldered over a chef. Communication Skills, Personality Development, Industrial Labor & Hotel Laws, Kitchen Designing, Food & Beverage Costing form an integral part of their curriculum.


CLASSROOMS

The Academy has 8 classrooms and 7 fully equipped training kitchens. It also has a well designed demonstration kitchen and a compact 36-cover training restaurant. This would give the students the much-needed exposure to customer needs & demands and convert the feedback into practical improvement in their learning process.

All the classrooms of the academy are a fully equipped with audio-visual aids, a highly utilized resource center & library that will be constantly kept in the state of growth. The academy offers two courses for students aspiring to icon the Culinary Profession.

        • This page of the school’s website provides a bit more information about the facility/classrooms, but it also has pictures of every classroom, which would be perfect to include in our presentation. http://www.iactchefacademy.com/facilities.html
This page also has a virtual tour of mist of the labs: http://www.iactchefacademy.com/virtual-tours.html


FACULTY

The faculty includes 18 fulltime chef instructors covering all aspects of Food Production, Food Presentation, Kitchen Management, F & B Matching etc. All the faculty members have worked in some of the best-known hotels In India & abroad. They would not only take the students through theory and practical examinations but also advise and guide the students on to the paths of excellence in the study of gastronomy.




I am still researching information about what (if any) text books they use at this school, as well as equipment (other than what we can see in the picture), or a class schedule. The program lasts three years, but as far as how long each class is, when each class is offered, etc. isn’t really provided on the website as far as I can tell.